THANK GOD: One of television’s most uproarious and gayest comedies is returning! And soon!
FX has just confirmed that their acclaimed vampire mockumentary series What We Do In The Shadows will air its fifth season on 13 July.
Based on Taika Waititi’s beloved 2014 film of the same name, the series follows four dysfunctional vampire roomies in Staten Island: Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch).
The quartet are assisted by Guillermo de la Cruz (Harvey Guillén), Nandor’s familiar who, upon discovering that Abraham Van Helsing is his descendant, becomes a skilled vampire slayer.
What We Do In The Shadows has been lauded for the performances of the cast and comedic value, earning 17 Primetime Emmy Award nominations – including two for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Additionally, the series won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series earlier this year for its progressive LGBTQ+ representation. Guillermo memorably came out as gay in the fourth season and in 2020, co-showrunner, executive producer and writer Paul Simms revealed that all the characters are pansexual.
“All of them. All of our characters are completely pansexual,” Simms confirmed for GLAAD’s annual Where We Are on TV report, adding: “So we get a 100 percent from GLAAD on the survey. Where’s our award?”
He added: “Vampires are so accepting. They’ve seen everything. I remember, we were having one conversation early on, and I was saying, would vampires be [prejudiced]? Laszlo’s very old-fashioned — you can imagine him not liking Italians or something.
“And then we decided, no. They’ve just lived so much time that everyone seems [the same]. And also, to them, it’s vampires and then all the humans. And who cares what kind of humans they are?”
Berry, who’s earned widespread praise for his portrayal of Laszlo, said the normalisation of queer identities is a “really positive thing” for representation.
“The fact that somebody comes in and we all fancy them, it just is accepted,” he said. “No one turns on anyone else about anything like that. We might have a go at someone for being boring, but that’s a different thing.”
Jemaine Clement, co-creator and co-showrunner of the series, was “surprised” that What We Do In The Shadows has attracted such a passionate LGBTQ+ following.
He told The Advocate: “I’m from a place where it’s a little more liberal in a way, in New Zealand, so it’s not as weird to me.
“I was not expecting people to identify with bisexual characters or relate to them in that way and not having felt represented. … But I’m really happy about it.”
What We Do In The Shadows is available to stream in the UK on BBC iPlayer. While we patiently wait for season five, revisit Nadja and Laszlo’s stunning Grammy-nominated performance of In This Town below.
Latest
